Based on
the very short story by H.P. Lovecraft this movie delves deep into a twisted
idea. A brilliant scientist discovers a way to feel ultimate pleasure and
have unsurpassed knowledge. He develops a machine that opens a doorway to
another dimension that he learns how to control and use for his own
purposes. While in this dimension the pineal gland in humans is somehow
affected and people can be easily seduced. The
scientist's assistant really gets fucked in this movie. He has all of his
hair removed by some kind of giant worm with teeth and he later ends up in a
hospital eating human brains out of storage containers! Very cool to see!
Not a typical film for the horror/sci-fi genre and I think everyone should
see this at least once. – Jeffrey Kusbel
Guinea Pig: Mermaid In A
Manhole (1988)
Directed
by Hideshi Hino
You’ve
got to hand it to the Japanese-not only did they built an awesome Fascist
Empire in WW2, but even to this day they are extreme, making some of the
most sick films imaginable. It is amazing how you hear American moralists
ranting about how “extreme Hollywood is”, Hollywood films are nothing
compared to these Japanese films.
In fact,
this was probably one of the few films to be banned in Japan, due to that
idiot Charlie Sheen getting hold of one of the videos in this series
(Captured Co-Ed) & sending it to the CIA claiming it was snuff! What a
moron! On to the film itself however. I have often myself thought that to
really make art, you must be mentally disturbed-this film perhaps supports
my theory, as it is based around the final days of a Japanese painter who
you soon discover isn’t all there. His wife having left him a month before,
each day he goes to his “secret place”, a sewer full of death & decay.
There amongst the polluted water, he draws the decay, such as a dead fetus.
When he finds his dead guinea pig Chibi (yeah, a bit of a in-joke perhaps?)
he first cries over it, rubbing it on his face-then drops it abruptly,
exclaiming - “I am a painter, I must paint Chibi!” He then hears a
splashing, & discovers a beautiful mermaid laying amongst the filth.
He
recalls a different time in his life when a river ran in the place of the
sewer, full of things such as flowers, dragonflies & friends (“all gone now”
he thinks). He saw a mermaid there once, & asks her if she is the same
one. She agrees, explaining that she was trapped in the sewer when the river
dried up. He begins to paint her, coming there everyday just to be with
her. He then discovers that she has an infection on her stomach. He takes
her home placing her in a bathtub, & attempts to stop the infection.
However, the mermaid tells him, “I would rather have you paint me.” He
begins to paint her in various stages of decay. The infection gets worse,
causing huge, pus filled sores which begin to spread all over her body. She
tells him that “within my body is pus of seven colors” & implores him to
slash her infectious wounds with a razor, in order to collect the pus to
further enhance the painting. Her decay becomes worse however-with the
sores spreading more & more. Then worms begin to burst from her sores, to
which he frantically picks out of her & puts into a pan.
The
scenes of gore & decay in this film are extreme. Despite it being shot on an
obviously very low budget (I believe it is even done on video, as opposed to
higher-quality film), the gore was extremely well done-it really looks like
a mermaid, & it really looks like she is infected. The gore is so extreme
that it can really be a gross out. Perhaps the most interesting thing about
this film is that while it’s obviously made for a gore factor, it brings up
some interesting points that I mentioned earlier-with art comes sickness.
Is the painter really seeing a mermaid, or something else? The ending is
one of the most killer as well, & really keeps you guessing. Highly
recommended!
Halloween (1978)
Directed
by John Carpenter
This is probably close to my fave horror
movie of all-time! The creepy music made by director John Carpenter is the
scariest ever, I sought out and ordered the soundtrack to this movie on CD I
loved it so much! It starts off with a young boy named Michael Meyers who
brutally slaughters his sister on Halloween night.
He then spends his next 15 years in a
mental hospital biding his time. He escapes the day before Halloween 15
years later and returns to the small, quiet town of Haddonfield to continue
his gory and murderous rampage on his mission to kill his other sister
Laurie (Jamie Lee Curtis). You get to see a dog killed, a young man stabbed
to the wall with his feet off the ground, a guy boiled and lots more fun.
The whole time he is hunting Laurie his old doctor for the last 15 years is
hunting Michael Meyers in attempt to not only stop him but to kill him, it
is the only way. The masked cold-blooded killer after leaving a trail of
dead bodies finds Laurie and attacks her. She fends him off stabbing him
with a sewing needle, coat hanger and ect., he keeps coming and cuts her and
just before he is about to kill her his old doctor Loomis (whose acting
throughout the movie is excellent a key ingredient, also as a trivia side
note: his last name was used as one of the last names of the killers in
Scream) shows up and shoots Michael repeatedly and he falls backwards out of
a balcony house window.
But when Dr. Loomis looks out the window a
moment later he is gone. The blood-chilling music comes in and credits roll
but the ending of this movie will serve as the beginning of the Halloween II
which I suggest you to rent both at the same and make a day long horror fest
like I have done many a time. Beyond classic!! – Dale Roy
Halloween
II (1981)
Directed by
Rick Rosenthal
Number
two starts off the exact second the first movie ended (Halloween one was
reviewed last issue by the way) which rules! Halloween I ended with the
killer Michael Myers (Who had been locked away in a mental institution
for 15 years for the murder of his sister) on the verge of killing his
(2nd) sister Laurie. When Michaels doctor for all those years shoots
Michael repeatedly until he falls out the window. But when Dr. Loomis
looks outside for the body it is gone.
Dr. Loomis yells I shot him, call
the police! and a neighbor responds "Is this some kind of joke, I'm sick
to death with trick or treats tonight". Dr. Loomis gravely says "You have
no idea what death is!". Cue the scariest horror movie music ever (the
movies theme music) and a great atmosphere and excellent chilling opener
to the movie. They rush Laurie to the hospital to tend to her bruises
and gapping slit in her arm courtesy of Michael Myers. Michael makes his
way to the hospital to finish the job leaving a trail of bodies in his
wake. By method of a claw hammer to the head, boiling of nicely formed
nurse, needle in the eye ect? In the hospital Laurie discovers it is
Michael Myers after her and it is her blood brother (she was adopted and
her history hidden by the parents).
A final showdown ensues involving
Loomis, Laurie, a nurse and a cop. I wont give away the ending but its
not sweet for Michael or Dr. Loomis. Good finish. Fucking great movie, I
left out a lot details on purpose for space and so you will have to
watch to see it all. Rent or buy Halloween I & II and watch them
back to back they are by far most effective this way!
– Dale Roy
Ice From The Sun
(1999)
Directed by Eric Stanze
Here’s some arty experimental
horror (?) film. I can’t get into this too much it’s visual is
something close to an MTV video, actually NIN comes to mind. The
story is about an evil wizard named Ambolin who created another
world during the Dark Ages, one totally made of ice. Ambolin and his
apprentice ruled this world as though they were gods even killing
humans they stole from earth. The apprentice (The Presence) would
eventually grow more powerful with each human he killed and soon
took over the dimension of ice. The Presence grows so powerful and
evil that both Angels and Devils join forces to take down The
Presence. Eventually the angels and devils select Alison, a human to
help them bring down The Presence. To do this Alison must somehow
become one of the six chosen every few years by The Presence as he
performs upon them his severe physical and mental torture. Once all
six are dead The Presence traps their souls in ice and makes them
his slaves.
The story itself is kinda goofy, I think. Angels, devils, wizards,
is this an Anime? Almost clocking in at two hours long this is a
rough one to sit through, my finger on the remote hitting the fast
forward button continuously. Folks, this is some boring stuff! If
Opencity hadn’t sent me a synopsis of the film I would have no idea
what the fuck is going on, I still don’t know even with it. This
film would of worked much better without the artistic camera angles,
lighting, slick editing etc etc. Brother, the soundtrack blows.
Really cheesy alternative hard rock. I did find some bright spots
though, like the acting which believe it or not is for the most part
above average. I also happen to find a couple of cool scenes that
are quite sick. A women chained to a pickup truck and dragged a
couple hundred feet, you get to see her flesh torn and burned from
the gravel then the driver throws rock salt all over her. Pretty
cruel, I like it! The gore effects in the scene in which a woman is
strapped to a table and cut open is really nice too. Like the worms
pulled from her belly, ick! Director Eric Satnze is a talented
director and I give him a lot of credit for a great job on such a
limited budget. You can tell a lot of time and effort went into this
film. Anyhow, Ice from the Sun is a bit too modern for my taste. -
Bill Connolly
Junk (2000)
Directed by Clive Barker
I’ve
heard the hype on this one, maybe you have too? A Zombie flick that ranks
amongst the classics (you know Fulci’s Zombie, Re-Animator, Dawn of the
Dead). I had to check this one out for sure and make up my own mind. Junk
opens up with a doctor and his female assistant overviewing a nude Japanese
girl, seemly deceased in a laboratory of some sort. Now, this doctor is a
real nut job who has come up with some kind of re-animating fluid, hell it’s
even green like that shit from Re-Animator. He injects the corpse with the
green shit and blam! You got a naked Gook zombie bitch running around
munching on the good doctor and his assistant. We next switch to a bunch of
thieves about to do a hit on a jewelry store. Three dudes in masks and a
woman getaway driver. Well, things go smoothly until one of the bank
employees stabs one of the robbers in the foot. Away, his buddy blasts that
stupid cunt point blank in the face. Don’t you just hate when people try to
play hero!?
So the
thieves get away and high tail towards an old abandon factory/laboratory on
the outskirts of town. This is where they would meet with the big boss and
drop of the goods to him and his boys. Things are going cool until the chick
getaway driver decides to start exploring the complex. Dum, dum. Dum! Guess
what she comes across? Fucken Zombies! This place is the same factory/
laboratory used by the kook doctor that starts off the flick. The head
zombie making the rounds is the naked gook chic. The flick kicks into
overdrive at this point as the boss shows up with his boys, it’s an all out
battle between the gangsters and the zombies. The zombie makeup is really
well done, a definite Fulci inspiration along with the maggots. Check out
the scene where one victim gets a giant splinter shoved through his, not
eye, but neck. How about the gore and the violence you ask? It’s in there!
Gun battles, zombie brain splatter, a disembowelment. Sorry no gut munching,
but the Zombie 3 soundtrack is ripped off through out the film. This movie
is a gory good time, the best thing to come from Japan in a long time
alongside The Ring of course. - Bill Connolly
Night of the Living Dead
(1968)
Directed
by George A. Romero
This is George A. Romero’s first in his
great series of zombie flicks (true to his visions the man made zombie
movies in 3 consecutive decades (‘60’s/70’s/’80’s)) This is the black &
white classic which center’s on an abandoned (very recently, probably due to
the zombie outbreak) country farm house where a couple different small
groups of living people hole-up and try and battle their way out to help
while keeping everyone within safe from zombie assault. Surprising amount of
good gore in a movie so old! You get to see zombies eating meat off human
bones, chewing on livers and playing with intestines. You get to see also a
freshly zombified daughter within the house brutally stab her mother to
death with a small gardening shovel - Great! I remember the first time I
watched this being shocked at the surprise ending. True classic and a must
see go rent/buy it now!! –
Dale Roy
Nightbreed (1990)
Directed by Clive Barker
Anyone remember this flick
released right around the time Clive Barker started to become a household
name? This one is based on his book Cabal (great book indeed and it was
set right in the area I used to live in Canada! -Dale) which of course is
better than the movie and different than the movie but the movie is pretty
cool actually. Nightbreed has plenty of
weird characters to deal with and they are almost all violent (a definite
plus). The Nightbreed, while not zombies, enjoy devouring human flesh and
really hate to be pissed off. They all live below ground under a old
graveyard called Midian and they are the last of an ancient species of
shape-shifters. Their lives are changed forever when their prophecies come
true and a man named Boone walks into their lives. He also brings a clingy
girlfriend and a serial killer doctor (played by renowned director David
Cronenberg if I’m not mistaken!? - Dale) along so you can imagine the very
off-the-wall content and conclusion of this movie. You have to really see it
to understand it but you will not be disappointed. Hey, a guy even severs
half of the skin off his head along with most of his hair (That’s gotta
hurt) what more can you ask for? - Jeffrey Kusbel
